Airline oiler



Nov. 19, 1968 D. F. GERMAN AIBLINEOILER Filed Oct. 29, 1965 .35 l//Z 'wDALE GERMAN 74M ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,411,609 AIRLINE OILERDale F. German, Bryan, Ohio, assignor to The Aro Corporation, Bryan,Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 505,611 1Claim. (Cl. 184-55) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Airline oiler employingVenturi action for charging a stream of air through the oiler with oilfog. An automatic regulator for oil in proportion to air is provided inthe form of a wall between the inlet and outlet of the oiler throughwhich there is an air passageway normally closed by a valve plateengaged against the downstream surface of the wall by spring means.

This invention relates to an airline oiler of comparatively simple andinexpensive construction.

One object of the invention is to provide an airline oiler which has anovel Venturi action for injecting oil into the air stream and at thesame time atomizing it so that the oiler is charged with oil fog or mistIwhich enters the air stream flowing through the oiler and thereuponflows to la pneumatic tool receiving compressed air through the oiler.Simultaneous operation and lubrication of the tool is thereby effected.

Another object is to provide a simplified version of the airline oilerdisclosed in the copending application of myself and Wilbert G. Kautz,Ser. No. 337,233, filed Ian. 13, 1964, now Patent No. 3,244,257.

Still another object is to provide novel means in an airline oiler foreffecting the dripping of oil from a nozzle into an oil pocket thatfeeds a Venturi mechanism so that the drops of oil through a sight gaugecan be counted in a unit of time, and the speed of operation of theoiler thereby determined.

A further object is to provide a regulating valve for the sight gauge sothat the rate of oil fogging can be adjusted to suit various Sizes oftools or other lubrication requirements of pneumatic tools or the like.

An additional object is to provide an arrangement of Venturi mechanismand compensating valve which cooperate with each other in such manner asto provide substantially the same rate of oil fogging regardless ofvariations in the air ow through the oiler.

Another additional object is to provide an airline oiler in which an airpassageway from an inlet to an outlet is provided, the outletcommunicating with an oil bowl to receive air and oil fog therefrom andthe means to produce such oil fog comprising a sight gauge on the headof the oiler, a drip nozzle therein, oil passageway means from the oilbowl below the level of oil therein to `the drip nozzle, an oil pocketfor receiving oil from the drip nozzle and Venturi means to effectoperation of the drip nozzle together with a movable compensating valvein the first air passageway operable to variably obstruct the ow of airthrough the Venturi throat andthereby automatically produce an oil fogproportionate to air flow resulting from the action of the compensatingvalve.

A further additional object is to provide the compensating valve in theform of a valve plate transversely across the first air passageway andpivotally mounted adjacent one side thereof, a coil spring beingprovided to bias the valve plate to closed position and the'coil springsurrounding a fitting that has the Venturi throat in it, the valve platehaving a tail piece provided with a slot through which the Venturifitting loosely extends, the tail piece engaging one end of the coilspring, the Venturi fitting having a shoulder engaged by the other endof the coil spring.

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4Still a further object is to provide retaining means for the oil bowlof the airline oiler connected with the Venturi fitting having theVenturi throat therein.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of myairline oiler, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, ashereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim andillustrated in detail on the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. l is a plan view of an airline oiler embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof on the line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional View thereof on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View on the line 4-4 of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a compensating valve plate used in myairline oiler.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference character H toindicate an oiler head, B and oil bowl and G a sight gauge constituting,in general, the body of the airline oiler. The body B is suspended fromthe head H by a Venturi fitting F and a retainer R, the details of`which will hereinafter be described.

The head H has an air inlet 10 and an air outlet 12 between which is acentral connecting passageway 14. An oil fog passageway 16 is alsoprovided in the head H and communicates the interior of the oil bowl Bwith the outlet 12.

The retainer R comprises a knob 18 knurled for convenience in rotatingthe retainer during assembly and disassembly of the oil bowl to the headH, a shouldered portion 20 which is Oring sealed relative to the bowl Band a stem 22 threaded on its upper end. A sediment discharge valve 24(which may be 'an ordinary tire valve insert) is provided in the knob 18and communicates with the interior of the bowl B by means of a sedimentdischarge passageway 26.

The upper end of the bowl B is O-ring sealed relative to the head H andthe sight ygauge yG is likewise sealed relative to the head, the sightgauge being threaded into the upper end of the head as `shown in FIGS. 2and 3. The bowl B and the sight gauge G lare `formed of transparentplastic material.

The socket in the top of the head H forms an oil pocket 28 from which apassageway 32 leads downwardly to a Venturi nozzle 30. The lower end ofthe nozzle 30 is located in a tubular extension 34 from the upper end ofthe fitting F which is threaded into the head H and has a bore slightlylarger than the outside diameter of the nozzle 30 as shown in FIGS. 4and 5. The extension 34 thus forms a Venturi throat which dischargesinto the bowl B through a cross -passageway 36 at the lower end of thebore of the tubular extension. I

A compensating valve V is provided comprising a valve plate 38 and atail piece 40 which is perforated as indicated at 42 to loosely receivethe tubular extension 34.

A spring 44 is mounted on the tubular extension with its upper endbearing against the tail piece 40` and its lower end bearing against ashoulder 46 of the litting F. The valve plate 38 in its normal positionengages the inner surface 48 of the air outlet 12 as shown by solidlines in FIG. 3 but can be actuated to the solid line position shown inFIGS. 4 and 5 by air ow as will hereinafter appear.

A drip nozzle 50 is located in the sight gauge G and oil is suppliedthereto from an oil tube 52, the lower end of which is below the levelof oil S6 in the bowl B. A check ball 54 is located in the head Hbetween the oil tube 52 and the drip nozzle 50 to prevent retrograde oilmovement.

In order to effect ow of oil upwardly through the oil tube 52 and thedrip nozzle 50, the interior of the sight gauge -G requires a drop inpressure. This is effected by the Venturi action in the Venturi throat34. The relationship of the Venturi nozzle 30 and the interior of theVenturi throat 34 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the air ow being indicatedby arrows a which produce a suction as indicated by the arrow b becauseof the increase in velocity of the air as it passes through the Venturithroat 34.

The Venturi action would produce more drops of oil per minute thanrequired and it is desirable to have a means to regulate the number ofdrops. This is effected by a sight gauge control valve 58 in the form ofa needle valve in a passageway 60-61 leading from the space in the bowlB below the head H to the oil pocket 28. This passageway acts as a bleedto reduce the effectiveness of the Venturi action. The head of the valve58 may be engaged by a screwdriver and the valve adjusted as required.

'Ilhere is a statistical relationship between droplet sizes in the oillfog, some being small enough that they can be air-borne while othersprecipitate back into the oil bowl. This relationship in actual practiceis approximately one in twenty. Therefore, with a given constant airconsumption of a pneumatic tool y(in CFM), by observing the number ofdrops 62 (FIG. 2) falling through the sight gauge `G in one minute anddividing by twenty the result is the number of drops per minute actuallydelivered Kfrom the air outlet 12 in the form of lfog. Thus, if apneumatic tool requires 30 CFM for its operation and one and one-halfdrops of oil per minute for its lubrication, the valve S8 may beadjusted until one and one-half drops per minute is consumed, which inthe sight gauge G amounts to 30 drops per minute. The Venturi actionillustrated in FIG. 5, of course, breaks the oil coming from the nozzle30 into line particles thereby lling the bowl B with fogged oil abovethe level of the oil therein. The air indicated by the arrows a and theair passing through the air passageway 14 both flow out of the outlet 12during the operation of the pneumatic tool. The air that ows through theVenturi throat 34 into the bowl takes along with it some of the foggedoil as it ows upwardly through the passageway 16 into the outlet 12. Theheaviest particles of oil Ifall out of the air in the bowl and return tothe oil 56 therein and this entire cycle of operation provides the 20:1ratio above mentioned.

Since the air entering the head H is obstructed by the valve plate 38 ofthe compensating valve V, the valve effects flow of air as indicated bythe arrows a in FIG. 5 to produce the Venturi action. The lfunction ofthis valve is to automatically control the amount of air passing theupper end of the Venturi throat 44 as compared to the amount of air thatiiows through the Venturi throat and out of the cross passageway 36.Pressure reduction, due to the Venturi, changes with the square of theair velocity. Therefore, if the air flow of an ordinary oiler increases,`a ooding condition of the oil results and likewise starvation o-f oilwill result when the air ow decreases. This condition of flooding andstarvation of oil is compensated for in my oiler by use of thecompensating valve V which opens wider whenever the air flow isincreased and thereby decreases the Venturi action.

The parts lare so designed and the tension of the spring 44 is such thatthe proper balance is attained to supply the correct amount of oil fogfor the tool being operated regardless of whether it is operated at highspeed by increasing the air ow or low speed by decreasing it. I Ihavefound the disclosed arrangement very effective to provide the desireduniformity of oiling action for a pneumatic tool fed wit-h compressedair from my oiler.

From the foregoing specification it will be obvious that I have provideda comparatively simple oiler construction having ymeans to produce oilfog and to regulate the degree of oil fog by means of a sight gauge inwhich the Irate of oil drops may be observed. Automatic compensation forair iow variation is had and the device is readily adjustable to securethe desired degree of lubricating action for a pneumatic tool or thelike.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my airline oiler without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim anymodified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which mayreasonably be included within its scope.

:I claim as -my invention:

1. An airline oiler comprising a head, an oil bowl depending therefrom,said head having an air inlet and an air outlet, a -wall between saidinlet and said outlet, an air passageway through said wall 4from saidinlet to said outlet, said outlet communicating with said oil bowl toreceive air and oil fog therefrom, and means to produce such oil fogcomprising a sight gauge on said head, a drip nozzle therein, oilpassageway means from said oil bowl below the level of oil therein tosaid drip nozzle, an oil pocket for receiving oil from said drip nozzle,Venturi means to effect operation of said drip nozzle comprising aVenturi nozzle communicating with said oil pocket and a fitting having aVenturi throat communicat- `ing with said inlet, and a compensatingvalve operable to variably obstruct the ow of air through said airpassageway of said wall, said compensating valve opening wider withincreased air ow whereby a portion of the air flows through said Venturithroat in proportion to air flow through said rst air passageway, saidcompensating valve comprising a valve plate transversely across said airpassageway, pivotally mounted adjacent one side thereof and engaging thedownstream surface of said wall, and a coil spring to bias said valveplate to wall-engaging position, said coil spring surrounding saidfitting and said valve plate having a tail piece provided -with a slotthrough which said tting loosely extends, said tail piece engaging oneend of said coil spring, said fitting having a shoulder engaged by theother end of said coil spring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,009,542 11/1961- 'Shada 184-553,244,257 4/1966 German et al 184--55 3,131,786 5/1964 Gleason et al184--55 FOREIGN PATENTS 251,445 5/ 1964 Australia.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. E. J. EARLS, Assistant Examiner.

